A Life of Change

Well I have moved again.

Back to the apartment I lived in during the spring.

After many thoughts and talks with people I decided (with a lot of guidance) that the best decision was to move back to be closer to my school and other teachers. It was a hard decision, but I know the right one. The commute was beginning to be too much on me physically and mentally. I spent almost 2 hours each days riding public and I thought/hoped it wouldnt be that bad. But I was wrong - being out in the city daily is just draining, and then on top of that teaching full time! I am hoping that now I'll be able to better focus on school during the week, and then enjoy being out in the city on the weekend.

We had another long weekened (Monday and Tuesday off from school) and so it seemed to be the best time to pack up and move again. The whole process (packing, loading it up at my old apartment, driving, unloading, and unpacking at my new apartment) took less than 24 hours. I had A LOT of help though from two great families here - they are amazing and will do anything to help me out, I'm quite grateful for them.

Walk Like an Egyptian...

Two weeks ago I took the most amazing vacation!! I had Monday and Tuesday off from school, so I decided to go to Egypt for a long weekend. My dear friend lives there and it was wonderful to see her life there and catch up with her. It was perfect timing for me and a much needed vacation. It felt so good to get out of my city…even though I went to another big, congested, polluted city! I really enjoyed Egypt and seeing all the cool things there – the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Egyptian Museum, Nile River, Garbage City, etc. But the best part was seeing my friend and just being away for a few days. She was a wonderful tour guide and was so gracious in taking my roommate and me all around her city! Here are a few pictures from the weekend…me riding a camel through the desert, the Nile River, and hanging out at the Cave Churches. Be sure to check out facebook for more.

Where does time go??

I can't believe it is already the end of the month. This is going to be a short post, because it is past my bedtime. But I just wanted to let you know that I am indeed alive. I have been super busy with school and life, and therefore haven't had much time for communicating with you sweet people :) Thanks for reading my blog and wanting updates! Ill post a blog/pictures from my recent trip to Egpyt, as well as an update on my life this weekend!
For now enjoy this picture: a lovely evening at Chili's with some good friends!

First Week of School

Well I survived my first 1st week of school! Isn't that strange. It wasnt my first 1st day of school, just first 1st week. Confusing, huh? Anyways school started last Tuesday, Sept 1 and first day back had its struggles. I have a very active and talkative group, so I am still in the process of figuring out the best methods and management styles to use. I keep reminding myself that they are different kids than my group last year, and as a result need different things from me as a teacher. I've got several cultures in my class this year: Americans and Koreans, one Turk, and one South African. I am looking forward to the joy and challenge of learning more about each one of them. Here are some pictures of my rearranged and newly organized classroom...

Dont my bulletin boards look great?? A very good friend came out to school last week and did them for me! Thanks, Britt!

Goodbye Summer.

Summer is offically over.

I start teacher workdays tomorrow and the kids come back next Tuesday, Sept 1st. I am excited and looking forward to being back in the classroom. It has been a good summer. Took me a while to get used to the different pace of life, but I ended up really enjoying myself. In between going to the states, studying language, and having visitors; I did lots of other cool things! Here are a few pictures from my fun and eventful summer!

Went to a Galatasaray futbol game. This was quite entertaining and a very memorable night, with some great friends.

I became a big fan - it was so fun!

Visited the Prince's Islands a couple times, these are Islands off of Istanbul - its very nice and peaceful, no cars and lots of grass!

I made as many trips as possible to Starbucks - to read, study Turkish, catch up with friends, and play cards :) I enjoyed being out in the city at night, and not feeling the pressure of having to wake up at 6am the next morning! Soon enough, though.

And then just hung out with friends - new and old. It's fun and sometimes hard being in a city where you meet new people all the time, and then sad when you have to tell them bye.

Happyness

One of the many perks of being a teacher in Turkey is that I get lots of discounts (indirim)! I have this Teacher Card with my picture on it that lets me ride any form of public transportation for half price. While my friend, Liz, was here we toured all around the city. On our 1st day we went to Topkapi Palace - where the Ottoman Sultans lived in the 15th century. Anyways, I decided to see if I could use my teacher card to get a discount. I walked up to the window, showed them my card and told them I was a teacher. There was a lot lost in the translation, but I did understand something about it costing 10 lira, which is half of the 20 lira that my friend had to pay! I thought GREAT, and handed him my teacher card. He starting working on his computer, asked me a lot of questions (still didnt understand much), scanned my teacher card, and then took my money. Next, he handed me a MUZE KART. I was really confused but thanked him and walked away. Come to find out this MUZE KART gets me into all the Museums across Turkey for free, and it doesn't expire until next summer. Normally they dont give them to foreigners, its just for Turks. I think with my lack of Turkish, the man just felt sorry for me so he gave it to me. Whatever the reason - I am glad to have it, it has saved me a ton of money!

One of my favorite things to do in my city is ride the boat across the Bosphorus. All summer long there have been cruise ships docked in, sometimes up to 3 or 4 ships at a time. This always gets me so excited, because cruising is something my family and I love to do together. We have so many fun memories going to the Bahamas and Mexico. I like to look up the cruise ship's name online and find out where they have come from and where they are going next. Then I imagine what it would be like to cruise around this part of the world with my family! I sure hope I get to take at least one cruise while I live over here.

Come Visit Me!

A few weeks ago I had my 1st visitor - my good friend Liz!! It was wonderful having her here for 10 days. Liz was a great guest and fun person to show around my city, because it didn’t matter what we did...she LOVED it! It felt nice to just be a tourist for a few days and really enjoy my city. Sometimes I forget how beautiful my city is and how cool it is that I live here. I had a lot of fun planning our time together and being a tour guide. We were on the go the whole time and it was a lot of fun exploring with a good friend. Liz and I did lots of neat things, but instead of listing them all out here is a top ten from our time together! 10. Eating some good food – McDonalds, Chili’s, Ikea, gozleme, tavuk sis, and Magnum Bars
9. Setting up the self timer at every tourist spot – Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, Basilica Cisterns, Hippodrome, etc
8. Going to the Hamam – a true Turkish experience :)
7. Watching like 20 episodes of Friends.
6. Playing cards every spare minute we had – on the boat to the islands, at the airport waiting on Julie, at Starbucks, or wherever else.
5. Laughing Laughing Laughing – I seriously love this girl’s laugh.
4. Liz letting me use her arm for support as I limped around on my strained ankle – the result of wearing flip-flops everyday in a city where I have to walk a lot on uneven concrete.
3. Spending as much time with Julie as possible, which meant we slept like 12 hours in the 3 nights she was here. But totally worth it.
2. Sitting at the Starbucks in Bebek and singing Michael Jackson on my Ipod.
1. Having Liz by my side for 10 days straight – it was glorious and a truly great time!
My old roomie came for the weekend and it was so good for me to have some time with her. I miss her a lot, but am so thankful for the 5 months we had to live together when we first moved overseas!